- 08:46 AM
- 11/22/09
And the FIA will sue...
Yeah, I can see that will work well. Attract other teams and everything.
Good riddance to the manufacturers.
All F1 racers are manufacturers to some degree or another. I see you make an exception for Ferrari (quelle surprise!). Do you hate people using Ford engines, too?
The more interesting story is Bridgestone. After signing up as the exclusive tyre supplier, they're leaving. Who will replace them? Michelin won't as they were pissed off and felt they were being punished for the Indy debacle.
Indeed. It's quite a surprising move to me, given how hard they must have worked to get the exclusive deal.
posted by rodgerd at 04:51 PM on November 05
Perhaps the New Zealand team should apologise for interrupting the old boys' club's divine right tto dominate. Maybe if we just removed everyone except Australia, England, and perhaps India from the tournament we could get the "right" final.
posted by rodgerd at 05:56 AM on October 04
It's like a perfect shitstorm of ugly American xenophobia and teabaggery in here.
posted by rodgerd at 08:42 PM on October 02
He can get Piquet and go start his own Cheaters F1 Team.
It does seem a little odd that Piquet junior isn't banned for life along with the others. Or picked up any punishment, really.
If you think Michael Schumacher is a cheater, I guarantee you have never been to a Formula One race or been in parc ferme or a garage- or a test rack at Fiorano (as I have on all counts). If he's a "cheater" then who's not a cheater? lol
Anyone who doesn't crash into other drivers to get the results they want?
posted by rodgerd at 09:38 PM on September 30
Seems to me that hard hits are part of normal play in football: they're not just incidental, they're what happens when everything goes right. I don't think you can really point to another youth sport, except maybe hockey and maybe boys' lacrosse, where that's the case.
Rugby (league and union) and Aussie Rules both spring to mind as high-contact sports, and Union especially can have players of quite disparate sizes coming into contact. Union scrums are also extremely technical, high-risk affairs; the substitution rules have provisions for replacing front-row forwards precisely because playing at prop or hooker without understinding what you're doing, and the muscle to protect your neck, is a great way to end up with a spinal injury.
One of the things I dislike in Union and League is the enthusiasm for off-the-ball violence. It's one thing to go out expecting to hit and get hit in the tackle, for example; the tolerance many fans and players have for throwing punches (for example) leaves me unimpressed. If I threw a punch when doing Judo... well, I don't actually know what happens because I've never seen it at a tournament. I'm sure it has, but those sort of rule breaches aren't even really discussed, since it's so rare. I'm pretty sure my club would tell me not to bother coming back if I cut loose in a fight and started punching people, though.
posted by rodgerd at 05:37 PM on September 30
I kind of like Rio vs Chicago (where a promising student was killed recently in gang-related violence at his school. He was an innocent bystander trying to help a friend)
I hate to break it to you, but going to Rio to avoid violence is like going to Scotland to avoid whisky.
posted by rodgerd at 05:29 PM on September 30
MMA, boxing, racing all have deadly risks associated with their sports at almost every level of competition.
What was the average lifespan of professional level line of scrimmage players? 56? I think the average MMA or race driver manages a bit more than that.
posted by rodgerd at 10:56 PM on September 29
There are countless stories of lottery winners, athletes, and the like who have hit it big but are broke within a few years. Sad!
Rock stars, too. All it takes is limited financial literacy and trust in the wrong manager/accountant/whatever.
Hell, Leonard Cohen isn't a dumb guy, but he ended up with, what, $150k left after a lifetime of earnings because his accountant was screwing him.
posted by rodgerd at 09:21 PM on September 27
You know, if I was fronting a guy that much bigger than me, I think I'd be a little more circumspect.
posted by rodgerd at 09:18 PM on September 27
Sorry, this is a sports site. You clearly meant to go elsewhere.
Perhaps you should also address to stalnakerz and others - or are you only offended by certain views on that particular debate?
posted by rodgerd at 12:41 AM on September 22
"The NBA has repeatedly stated that their goal this year is to bring the referees compensation and benefits more in line with the rest of the NBA office employees and its administrative staff. But referees are not office and administrative staff."
Well, for one things, administrative staff don't stand in front of a bunch of drunken abusive arseholes while trying to manage a bunch of agressive swelled egos every week, all the while having a bunch of jockstrap-sniffers on TV and radio whip up frenzied campaigns against any decision they don't like.
posted by rodgerd at 05:38 PM on September 21
Absolutely despicable. An absolute joke of a punishment. Well, you can't call it a punishment. Renault engaged in the most despicable, reprehensible incident F1 has ever known, and have gotten away with it.
What, you mean more despicable than the times Senna and Schumacher have cause crashes to win?
Don't get me wrong; I consider Renault's behaviour reprehensible. Putting the lives of drivers, track staff, and spectators at risk by engineering deliberate crashes should be abhorrent to anyone who cares about the sport. But drivers have done it before and escaped scot-free, so it's a little hysterical to claim it is without precedent.
posted by rodgerd at 05:33 PM on September 21
Imagine what would happen if every time a player had a call go against them they demanded that the official be removed. We'd run out of officials pretty quickly.
Imagine what would happen if players were removed from the sport for making mistakes!
Apparently the officials must be flawless, but a moment's honest reflection for Ms Williams would make it clear that she lost because she had a shit game and lost her self-control.
posted by rodgerd at 02:53 AM on September 14
I don't see how the chair had any choice but to award a penalty point. Serena didn't just mutter a few remarks -- she marched up to the line judge twice, was clearly profane, and made threatening gestures with her hands and the racket. The whole place knew she was out of line.
If only more sports awarded penalties for abusing officials. I imagine footballers would suddenly discover new powers of self-control if the penalty for mobbing the referee was a penalty or a goal awarded.
posted by rodgerd at 07:00 PM on September 13
So, which to believe: that Renault ordered Piquet to lose, or that Piquet, who has no points this season, is a bit shit?
posted by rodgerd at 05:12 PM on September 13
Perhaps the gentleman should look to fix boxing's woes - more rigged fights than professional wrestling, and being dominated by Don King, crook extraordinaire - rather than trying to cast aspersions on the competition.
Still, I guess crying racism is easier that fixing something that's been broken a long time. Remy Bonjasky and Ray Sefo might find it an amusing claim.
posted by rodgerd at 04:44 PM on September 13
Didn't Liverpool and Everton both lose players under similar circumstances? Surely if this were applied across the board it would be more than Chelsea taking a hit?
posted by rodgerd at 11:26 PM on September 03
Surely the bigger story contained in the article is that Claudio Lotito has engaged in discriminatory hiring practices:
I bet he doesn't hire people who run slowly or can't kick a ball accurately, either.
posted by rodgerd at 06:13 PM on August 30
If you gin up an angry mob against somebody,
So you're saying Cohen is an anti-Semite? because that's the only person gining up a mob.
posted by rodgerd at 08:05 PM on August 26
Kurt Angle said his live-in girlfriend got him arrested on an alleged violation of a protection-from-abuse
Uh, no, you got yourself arrested by breaching a court order. This is like arguing that if you rob a bank it's the bank's fault if you get arrested for the robbery.
posted by rodgerd at 06:09 PM on August 20
Well, the bull won.
Yes. It would be nice if this got the bull a quiet retirement.
posted by rodgerd at 06:06 AM on August 18
Zero. Sympathy.
My wife used to fence. The whole body is a target. The whole body. The number of young men who didn't wear protection was amazing, though she was happy to introduce them to the error of their ways.
posted by rodgerd at 06:00 PM on August 14
And if we really were looking at the history of rape, we'd find far more rape victims who were called liars by people ignorant of the facts and thus intimidated into silence (or worse) than we would falsely accused non-rapists whose careers were ruined by such allegations.
This.
anyone reading that line knew it was a joke.
Crappy jokes are, well, crappy jokes. If we're going to make funny with rape, can we add nigger jokes to our repetoire, while we're at it?
posted by rodgerd at 07:10 PM on July 21
Hmm, Glenn Hoddle, you say.
posted by rodgerd at 11:01 PM on July 12
It's WWF without the fake.
And boxing without the corruption. Does anyone seriously believe there's any meaningful difference between, say, Don King and Vince McMahon? Other than McMahon being more honest about scripting the wins?
posted by rodgerd at 04:17 PM on July 10
(Although I note they omit Ewen Chatfield from their list of serious injuries; his heart stopped on the pitch and he required CPR after having his skull fractured by a delivery.
posted by rodgerd at 10:03 PM on July 07
More about the cricket ball than you ever wanted to know:
The covering is constructed of four pieces of leather shaped similar to the peel of a quartered orange, but one hemisphere is rotated by 90 degrees with respect to the other. The "equator" of the ball is stitched with string to form the seam, with a total of six rows of stitches. The remaining two joins between the leather pieces are left unstitched.For men's cricket, the ball must weigh between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces (155.9 and 163.0 g) and measure between 8 13/16 and 9 in (224 and 229 mm) in circumference. Balls used in women's and youth matches are slightly smaller.
Also, they're fiendishly expensive:
As of 2007, the ball used in first class cricket in England has a recommended retail price of 70 pounds sterling.
posted by rodgerd at 10:00 PM on July 07
From tragedy to farce.
posted by rodgerd at 04:26 AM on July 04
I mean really, this boils down to "They said bad things about me, so I'm sticking around."
Nah, I'm betting he agreed to stand down so that the teams would call off their plans long enough that they couldn't get a series running for 2010, then give them the old "Fuck you."
(not just F1. WRC is in fairly bad shape from what I've heard.)
WRC is in bad shape in no small part due to it being treated as a hostile competitor to F1.
posted by rodgerd at 09:33 PM on June 28
Bernie makes half a billion a year out of F1 TV rights alone. Half a billion[1].
People have had accidents for much less money. Just sayin'.
[1] Well, OK, Bernie and his partners.
posted by rodgerd at 06:51 AM on June 26
Here's my novel thought - hecklers suck no matter where they are heckling.
This.
posted by rodgerd at 06:19 PM on June 24
Joey: Well, in the end, it came out that the whole thing was a sting set up by News of the World, who ended up having to pay some fat settlements.
Besides, in F1, I seriously too many of the major figures are in a position to throw rocks...
But Mosely gone can't be a bad thing. Next step, reigning in Ecclestone.
posted by rodgerd at 06:18 PM on June 24
If you're going to single out and praise Mosley for how "safe" F1 is these days, you may as well thank him for the sun rising.
And, indeed, you'd be overlooking the drivers' work in pushing for safety. F1 managment have never really had much to do with it.
posted by rodgerd at 04:15 AM on June 21
To elaborate on how the money and the integrity issues can intertwine: race venues. For the last decade, Ecclestone has been cutting deals with non-traditional race venues in China, Bahrain, and the like, at the expense of places tht have run F1 for the better part of 50 years - Imola, Silverstone, and so on. Bernie insists this is about bringing F1 to bigger audiences and is a visionary move. On the face of it, getting into the Asian market (for example) is a good idea.
Here's where it starts coming unstuck, though. For one thing, it's snatching heavily-attended races away from the fans (like Imola) and seeing teams race in often near-empty tracks, because no real effort has been made to cultivate those audiences. So teams aren't getting in front of their fans. That's tradition/spirit.
Money? Well, for one, Bernie is basically setting up a bidding process for races. Middle-Eastern despots and emerging Asian nations have been happy to have their governments chuck 25 million quid at Bernie's pocket for a staging fee (which the teams don't see) to capture the race. And, oh, by the way, instead of going from Monza to Silverstone to Monaco to Imola with your teams, you'll be going from Monaco to Bahrain to Shanghai to...
Boy, that's some cost concern, right?
So the fans miss out, the teams go broke, but Bernie's pockets are fatter.
posted by rodgerd at 04:00 PM on June 20
Joey, here's one take:
Most of all, however, the rebel teams' resentment is aimed on the one hand at Mosley's autocratic regime and on the other at Ecclestone's refusal to give them more than 50% of formula one's estimated 1bn annual income from broadcasting rights, race sponsorship, trackside advertising and corporate hospitality.
posted by rodgerd at 09:53 PM on June 19
You would think F1 would look at this and realize they are only destroying themselves.
Why would Nazi-boy and his used car dealer sidekick care? As long as they can keep milking F1 for hundreds of millions for a few years longer, I doubt they give a shit.
posted by rodgerd at 05:59 PM on June 19
I think I've figured out why BT is so concerned about brain damage; he hopes none of us have to suffer his pain.
posted by rodgerd at 09:17 PM on June 15
As a (nominal) Jew I just feel left out, maybe I just need to switch to supporting Ajax ;)
Aston Villa, maybe?
posted by rodgerd at 07:07 PM on May 26
The cricket incident is interesting. Admittedly, I know hardly anything about cricket, but that sounds like good strategy. However, it seems that everyone is in agreement that it was a lousy move.
One of the factors - perhaps the biggest factor - as to why it stunk so much is because it was basically impossible for New Zealand to win at that point, anyway. The batsman facing that delivery bats at number 10 - in cricket you have to use all 11 players to bat in an innings, and your strongest batsmen, the top order, bat at 1- 5/6 normally. Your all rounders, wicket keepers, and bowlers are usually from 6/7 - 11. The number ten spot is the second worst batsman in the team, and will be pretty much a no-hoper facing a top-notch bowler.
Getting a six is hard at most grounds, and back in the early eighties it would be normal for a whole match to go without one being scored; even at friendly grounds you might only get a couple in a match.
So you've got a good strike bowler, a lousy batsman, and virtually no chance of getting the required runs. Australia didn't need to bowl underarm to win. And that's part of what made it such poor sportsmanship.
(An additional factor is that Australian cricket has long nurtured a huge chip on its collective shoulder about the Bodyline tour, which was also completely legal if considered unsporting. Bit of an about-face there...)
posted by rodgerd at 10:17 PM on May 15
I think if you have kids you should stop endangering yourself to this extent.
I pretty much think so. I've given up a bunch of motorcycle routes I used to take, because once I became a dad I decided they were too high-risk. Get your kids to adulthood, is my view, then you can start taking silly risks again.
posted by rodgerd at 07:50 PM on April 30
Travis Henry's child support obligations are extremely low, compared to what other parents are paying.
Yeah, I was surprised by that - I assume there mus be a cap on the top amount that will be paid; this is the case in New Zealand (non-custodial parent's income is capped at something like $80k p.a. for calculation purposes). But I know people paying over $2k per month because they earn that cap or above it.
People ragging on the amount being "too high" need to come up with some cogent explanation why the children of a rich parent who abandons them ought to live the life of a pauper. You want to sire 11 kids, you better be able to support them.
I do feel sorry for the 11 kids, in this picture. Their 'father' - in the loosest sense of the word - is a dumbass who appears intent on shirking even the most basic of his responsibilities. Not a great start in life.
do guys get vasectomies any more?
I will be when I've had all the kids I want. Given there's still a lot of "hurf-durf you aren't a real man any more" reactions to a vasectomy, though, I'm kind of unsurprised a guy in a macho profession might not.
MrFrisby, if true, that's just plain stupid.
Well, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. You'd need an accurate picture of how many people change their minds, really.
posted by rodgerd at 05:35 PM on March 15
Plus, spofites can take part in naming the teams.
Detroit Murders! Florida Abortion Clinic Bombers, San Francisco Queers!
posted by rodgerd at 11:23 PM on March 11
That, sadly, is likely the end of Pakistan as a cricket-playing nation, or at least one where people get to see international cricket played in their home venues.
posted by rodgerd at 02:25 AM on March 03
Management has a real tough job in training and changing this culture of indifference. Example: Circuit City. v. Best Buy.
Management is usually directly responsible for the culture of indifference - most places with bad culture tend to have bad culture at the top, poor pay rates, poor training, high turnover, as a result of managing to "keep staff costs down" (management salaries excluded, naturally ;).
posted by rodgerd at 03:34 PM on February 17
Scolari bought and played his favourites
Huh? I thought he only had a couple of purchases?
Even Avram Grant had a pretty good run with them. It seems to me, Roman must be the kind of man who wants all or nothing ... if they're not first, you're gone.
I got the impression that the 'problem' was that Jose was 'only' winning, not winning with flashy play.
One wonders who would be prepared to step up for the job next, really.
posted by rodgerd at 11:34 PM on February 09
I know several players that suffered concussions as the result of playing school/college football. Now, I'm sure they did suffer as many as most NFL players, but is there really as safe level?
I know in the rugby union in New Zealand doctors have been arguing that you should basically retire if you suffer 3 significant concussions; Leon MacDonald (aka "Captain Consussion") was a nexus for this discussion a few years back. Various neurological tests are pretty much routine after concussions, but there's still a huge amount of pressure on players, from themselves and from their teams, to get back on the field.
posted by rodgerd at 04:06 PM on January 29
Gah. This is just fucked up. I'd like to post a more thoughtful, well-reasoned response, but, yeah.
I guess I'll have to cross this, along with ballet, off the list of "things I want my daughter to do."
posted by rodgerd at 10:13 AM on January 24
Pieterson was/is by far the best captain England has had for ages.
You really think so? It seems that the final straw in this argument was that Piertersen wanted Vaughn back in the side because Piertesen didn't feel confident managing on-field tactics without him.
posted by rodgerd at 07:38 PM on January 08
the plan to standardise engines (i.e. probably Cosworths)
Really? I'll be stunned if it isn't Ferraris.
But it certainly becomes hard to justify the engineering arguments now traction control, active suspension, and so on, have all been banned, if you then go to standard engines. What are your boffins then going to take out of the F1 lab to put in their street cars when the F1 cars are more primitive than the average shopping trolly.
Or, what eccsport78 said.
(Manufacturers, on the other hand, are pointing the finger in part at how much of the ridiculous sums generated by F1 end up in Ecclestone and Mosely's pockets, rather than going to the teams that generate the revenue...)
posted by rodgerd at 09:53 PM on December 09
If you manage to shoot yourself in a public place with your concealed carry, should you really have a license?
posted by rodgerd at 06:19 PM on November 30
d) History proves that the best big man fighting weights range between 185 and 210. The same weight dynamic exists for Decathlons as well.
Which history is this? The one where the Japanese refused to have weight divisions in Judo until Anton wiped the floor with them?
posted by rodgerd at 09:59 PM on November 23
you'd be yelling at the top of your lungs about the FIA corruption
Were you yelling about McLaren's cheating last year?
posted by rodgerd at 04:59 PM on November 03
The favoritism (or antipathy toward McLaren)
Yeah, I guess cheating their way through the last year with stolen specs could cause problems further down the line. Who knew?
posted by rodgerd at 04:59 PM on November 03
Thoroughly deserved. It's a shame, I think, that for much of Tendulkar's career India have been a relatively weak test side, with too much focus on cashing in on the one-day game.
I also find it bizarre to read English-language cricket forums with Indian participants and see a large anti-Tendulkar faction - one didn't see the same about Border amongst Australians, for example.
posted by rodgerd at 09:59 PM on October 18
The coach's actions were inappropriate, but I wonder what actions would be considered appropriate if an adult sees a kid smacking other kids. Go talk to the parent, who is either not watching or doesn't care? Go talk to the coach? Seems to me you shouldn't just stand there watching kids smack each other while you talk to somebody.
1/ Since it's a handshake lineup, tell your kids to walk away. If the other team's parents and coach are upset, explain you'll be happy to shake hands when the little shit on their team quits throwing punches.
2/ Restraint. If my daughter was hitting someone else's kid and they held her with no more force than needed to stop her striking, I'd be perfectly comfortable with that. An adult shoving, kicking, or punching her? I hope they don't mind a foot up their arse.
posted by rodgerd at 11:53 PM on October 07
Me thinks that perhaps a few here need to travel abroad more...visit some countries in which there is a dictatorship in power.
Sure, we play the anthem at sporting events, and grade school kids say the Pledge of Allegiance, and most companies fly the flag. This is slight compared to what happens in many countries.
Funny, because the American worhsip of the flag, the anthem, pledges in the classroom - well, yes, I do find it creepy. because it's precisely what makes America look less like the free country its founders intended.
As far as "bringing shame on the African-Americans who fought for freedom" - would those be the ones who weren't allowed to fight as first-class soldiers until after World War II?
posted by rodgerd at 02:47 AM on September 20
Hmm. American athlete celebrates substance of American freedoms by spurning ritual.
Lynching at 11.
posted by rodgerd at 07:48 PM on September 17
I guess "Volkswagen Field" is out, too.
Presumably IBM, Ford, and GM, all of whom had Nazi links.
posted by rodgerd at 09:55 AM on September 13
And it may be a flavour of Chinese in my lifetime.
posted by rodgerd at 05:56 PM on August 27
German MNT keeper Enke in apparent suicide
Blaming someone with depression for killing themselves is like blaming someone with cancer for dying.
Attitudes like Drood are a huge part of the reason depressives kill themselves. Your hate and contempt for the mentally aren't part of the solution, moron, they're part of the problem.